Masteries

Offense:
0

Defense:
21

Utility:
9

Introduction

So, I should probably explain the purpose of this. Essentially, I am often infuriated by the way people build certain people, most often the people I frequently play. So in this (potential) series thing, I will slap a paragraph down about how I would build a certain champion, why I do it, and why the way people frequently (at least as I see it) do it is incorrect, or at least less effective. Flame if you so desire, but this is simply a place for me to share my opinions.

Sometimes, the build may not even be that severely differing from standard methods, but I simply think that a few subtleties are enough to make a difference. As a side note, this is not intended to be some prettily formatted guide, just a place for me to post my thoughts for those who care.

My methods are likely to be questioned by many, so if you are doubtful, don't hesitate to throw me a comment and I'll be glad to answer.

Graves

Honest to god, this has always been the way I've built him from the start, and yielded great results. Works great solo top or duo bot. The Brutalizer can be sold eventually, but honestly most games don't last long enough that you'll have to. The pluses that it adds are definitely worth your early game investment. This build makes you a beast of a carry still while being quite respectably tanky. Very strong. If you're willing to sacrifice your move speed and some of your burst off of the Trinity Force proc, and/or if you're in a position where you're being focused too much, you could consider replacing the Trinity Force with a Frozen Mallet.

Vayne

This method of building exists, but I feel like not very many at all use it. Vayne has tons of natural damage, so you can sacrifice just a tad bit of that for some tankiness. You'll be much tougher to kill with this build but still be able to easily hyper carry. In this case, The Brutalizer can be omitted if you so desire. Trinity Force procs on a Tumble and Silver Bolts simply is not fair. In addition, maxing Condemn first is excellent because they are quite easy to pull off in lane with practice, and gives much more stable damage as well.

Pantheon

So many people try to play him glass assassin, it makes me quite sad. His ability to anti carry and assassinate key targets is just as strong with this build, the only difference being he will not die instantly. With this, he becomes not only an excellent burst champion, but also quite remarkable of a fighter. He will become less terrible in the late game as many make him out to be. Spear Shot makes this an excellent candidate for solo top as well, as you can out poke a lot of people, and you could consider grabbing a Wriggle's Lantern as well for sustain. Another thing worth mentioning is that you should almost never use Grand Skyfall right onto someone. Try to cut someone off from behind while a teammate assaults them for an almost guaranteed kill. You can also pop right in the middle of a team fight while they're busy, which also indirectly means you could be side pushing quite frequently. Optionally, you could also get Trinity Force instead of a Frozen Mallet.

Shaco

To be honest, I haven't seen a huge abundance of Shacos, but those who I do see build pure damage, which can work, but I honestly think that getting a tad tankier is definitely to your own benefit. Most of the early items are largely damage, while touching slightly on defense, so the huge burst damage characteristic of Shaco will still be present, and you'll still be able to absolutely wreck teams and assassinate with ease. Near the end I top off with some defense, since people tend to focus Shaco eventually due to his huge burst. By adding the Force of Nature and Randuin's Omen, you'll be able to maintain most of your damage while staying around long enough to deal more of it. I get a Doran's Ring to open so that you can do some damage early on with your Jack In The Box while ganking, or simply when nesting (try going with a Blitzcrank some time for some serious laughs). I get Deceive and Two-Shiv Poison in an alternating order to maximize damage from your Deceive crit early on. Throwing a shiv and then Deceive critting with a Sheen proc is such ridiculous harass in lane, very few can actually trade with it.

Maokai

I see a lot of people build, well, okay, honestly, I don't even get what the hell people build on this guy. This is how you do it. Trinity Force tanky AP. Sounds oxymoronic, right? You see, it's still more productive than getting a Lich Bane since it has overall more useful stats for my purposes, and 150% of this build's AD is still more than its AP. With this build you'll still be the tankiest bastard on the team, but dole out lots of damage. In lane you'll be a really strong support with Heal and also be able to sustain yourself quite nicely off your passive, but you also work excellently on solo top. Not really much to say. I max out Arcane Smash and Twisted Advance first over the Sapling Toss, since I mainly use that for scouting purposes, which is not to say it isn't an excellent skill. It's simply the fact that the W+Q(+R) combo is so safe to pull off in most situations and much more damaging, it's just overall better harass.

Twisted Fate

Very strong way to build Twisted Fate. Yes, yes, I know, this isn't your beloved AP or Hybrid build. Both work, especially hybrid (AP sucks hue hue hue), but I think this is the most stable. In a duo bot situation, you'll be able to slowly farm up and at end game, this build will wreck absolute face. Twisted Fate makes an excellent assassin/carry, and with your tankiness from this build, you'll be able to assassinate much safer, and be able to dole out damage just as well, and for a very extended amount of time. Your sustain and tankiness combined is absolutely unfair. A Stacked Deck Blue Card with Sheen proc in lane is so ridiculously scary, it doesn't even make sense. Wild Cards are not obtained until much later, mostly for the purpose of proccing your Trinity Force. Additionally, Teleport makes you a great backdoor candidate, as usual.

Sion

Farm. All day. Everyday. All the time. At top. Then, when you finally get off farming and go do something, they can type /ff. Sit and farm everything you see and just rack up all the health. After your Atma's Impaler, you'll be such an unstoppable truck, it won't even be funny. Don't play AP, it's bad. It falls off late game, and this doesn't. You literally just sit and farm, and no one can stop you, and then at about 30 minutes, the enemy is screwed. Absolutely hideous damage output, and you can't be touched. You'll have upwards of 4000 health and respectable resistances, not to mention Cannibalism will heal your whole team in a single swipe. 3 early points in Death's Caress means it won't be too easily breakable, so you can farm in safety for the most part.

Rammus

Really awesome champion who's more versatile than it looks. You can support bot or solo top with him as well, and the same build works for it. Take Heal or Teleport respectively if you do, though. This build gives you heap tons of damage through AD. He has a pretty fast jungle nowadays, and his ganks are almost unparallelled throughout the game. The build, as you would expect, incorporates absolutely broken amounts of tankiness. Your resistances are absolutely huge, as is your health, and you also move incredibly fast with the Force of Nature and Shurelya's Reverie on Powerball. Combined with the slow on Frozen Mallet and your huge damage from Spiked Shell and your Atma's Impaler, you'll be a force to be reckoned with in team fights and skirmishes alike.

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!